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The information requested by patients prior to giving consent to anaesthesia
Author(s) -
Moores A.,
Pace N. A.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2044.2003.03189_5.x
Subject(s) - medicine , anesthesia , informed consent , general anaesthesia , regional anaesthesia , general anaesthetic , patient consent , general surgery , alternative medicine , pathology
Summary Patients in a teaching hospital in Scotland were given the opportunity to ask for further information relating to their peri‐operative anaesthetic management. One investigator visited all of the patients pre‐operatively and asked a standard list of anaesthetic‐related questions. Our objectives were to determine what additional information patients would request before giving their consent to anaesthesia. The majority of patients ( n= 469, 67%) had no further questions at a point when so‐called consent could have been obtained. Of the questions asked, 209 (66%) were related to anaesthesia and 93 (30%) to the proposed surgery. Only two patients in the group studied requested a full explanation of their peri‐operative anaesthetic management. The question most commonly asked related to the duration of surgery, with less priority being given to questions relating to complications of anaesthesia.